A snapshot from the 1st Global Health Film Festival in Lugano
Annual Report2022
Inter-university Graduate Campus (IGC)
Our hub of high-quality PhD education provides a growing number of PhD students with state of-the art training in public health sciences and inter-university networking opportunities. A total of 439 PhD students from 84 countries were enrolled in the SSPH+ Inter-university Graduate Campus (IGC). This includes; 370 active students (f: 233/ m: 137), 41 students who have graduated in 2022 and received their SSPH+ Certificate in Public Health and 28 students who successfully defended their thesis and are pursuing their final certificate.
The Academic Board of the IGC with representatives of all partner universities is responsible for the content and quality of the IGC. SSPH+ directorate member, Ann Walser is the IGC Manager. Arnaud Chiolero from University of Fribourg and Joachim Marti from University of Lausanne have successfully taken the lead of the Academic Board as co-chairs from Thomas Abel who has retired and stepped back from the position in June. The IGC coordination office has moved to the population health laboratory (#PopHealthLab) at the University of Fribourg and was warmly welcomed.
The IGC offered 27 high quality IGC courses for IGC students and external participants, and had over 660 IGC course registrations. Under the lead of the IGC Academic Board, calls for 6 new IGC courses were launched to all SSPH+ Faculty Members, and 6 new courses were selected and successfully implemented in the IGC course program: Forced migration: Sexual and reproductive health of migrant women (Bern University of Applied Sciences, BFH)/ Artificial Intelligence, deep learning & healthcare (Università della Svizzera italiana, USI)/ Foundations of public health sciences (University of Fribourg and Università della Svizzera italiana, USI)/ Introduction to health economics (University of Lausanne) / Public health nutrition (University of Fribourg)/ Public health surveillance and population health monitoring (University of Lausanne). Within the SSPH+ initiative to provide post-doctoral scientists at SSPH+ network institutions the opportunity to teach, 4 post-docs were able to offer 2-hour online courses in the IGC course program: The Swiss health care system in international comparison/ causal interpretation in association studies: a critical review/ "fake news" and infection prevention/Introduction to the global burden of disease project data and tools. IGC student representatives organized various great social events for IGC students including the 1st global Health Film Festival on humanity, conflict and health during the Summer School in Lugano, with several movies and follow-up discussions with the film directors.
You can find course testimonials of participants here and testimonials of alumni about the SSPH+ Inter-university Graduate Campus here.
A picture from a social gathering at the Lugano Summer School
An example testimonial about the IGC in 2022
"The Swiss School of Public Health+ has provided me with a supportive environment to grow both professionally and academically. One of the aspects about the School I found the most attractive was the family-like atmosphere and the very positive and nurturing environment. The variety of thematic and regional expertise offered at the SSPH+ Inter-university Graduate Campus is a great asset: the faculty members are world-class, as well as very friendly and eager to assist students in reaching their full potential. The IGC instilled confidence in my abilities to learn and resolve problems, and it has not only developed my research skills but also broadened my worldview. It has been a great privilege to have shared my time as a Ph.D. Candidate in Economics from the Università della Svizzera italiana with so many great public health experts and young professionals from all over the world. I am very much grateful for this!" - Santhosh Mannamplackal, PhD candidate.
